Splinter Cell: Operation Treason
by Jack Sawyer
Summary: Takes Place after DA, Sam Fisher is a ghost that nobody will find unless he wants them to. But when National Security is threatened will Sam come out of hiding to help the US once more, even though they are hunting him as well.
1. Debrief

**1**

**Debrief**

My name is Sam Fisher. I am a Special Agent for a Special Branch of NSA called Third Echelon. First I would like to send out my deep appreciation toward Hisham Hamza for carrying this message to the following eyes. I would like those eyes to be those of President Bowers, Secretary of Defense Frank Mason, Colonel Irving Lambert and Director of Operations Lawrence Williams.

For the past months I was undercover with a terrorist organization known as the JBA (John Brown's Army). A man named Emile Defraisne led this terrorist organization. In my time undercover I was able to gain the trust of Emile and the other terrorists. I'm not very proud on how I did that but it was all in the interest of my mission. I have murdered, stolen, tortured and committed acts of treason against this country to maintain my cover and in the big picture get closer to my goal of bringing this organization down.

This all started when I was given the news that a drunk driver killed my only daughter. I threw myself into a self-destructive pattern from that moment on and I finally decided to take on the most dangerous mission I could. I was put into Ellsworth Penitentiary alongside a terrorists associated with the JBA named Jamie Washington. Washington and I started a prison riot and escaped. This was my first act of good faith to the JBA.

Washington took me to the JBA headquarter in New York City. Once there I was forced to shoot the pilot of the helicopter we commandeered to prove my loyalty to the JBA. His name was Cole Yeaghar.

Once I was in with the JBA they sent me on several missions one being a task of taking over a Russian tanker in the Sea of Okhotsk. There I murdered the entire crew of the tanker and took it over.

After that I was sent with Defraisne to Shanghai were he was meeting with allies of the JBA, Massoud Ibn-Yussiff and Alejandro Takfir. I was able to listen in on their meeting and find out exactly what they were planning. I uncovered the selling of Red Mercury from a man by the name of Dr. Aswat. Once the deal was done I was ordered to assassinate the Doctor. Of course I complied to keep my cover.

The next mission I received unveiled what the JBA were plotting. Using the Red Mercury they were sold, the JBA built a bomb. I was given the task to plant this bomb and arm it on a cruise ship off the coast of Cozumel. Of course I informed Lambert about the bomb and he allowed me to remotely disarm the bomb. But I let the bomb go off. It's not a choice I am proud I made. I could give you the excuse that it was to further my cover with the JBA but I would be lying to you. I did that to ensure that a terrorist and my partner in the JBA, Enrica Villablanca's life was spared. Had the bomb not gone off, either Enrica or myself would have been at the mercy of Emile and his mercy isn't much. The Cruise ship exploded. I'm still not sure of the casualties but they are, unfortunately, on my head.

My trust was almost at its highest when Emile took me to Kinshasa where would once again meet with Allejandro and Massoud. I was able to bug this meeting as well and figure out that all three terrorists had bombs like the one I planted on the cruise ship. During that meeting something happened and Agent Hamza's cover was blown. I was given the task to assassinate him. To say that the thought of following through with the task was totally out of my mind would be a lie. On that radio tower with Hisham's head in my scopes was not an option that I discarded. But I decided against it and fire on the Congolese rebels that had him hostage. Of course I covered my tracks and made it seem like Hisham was killed in the explosion of the palace he had been in which in reality I helped him escape.

When we returned to New York it was show time for Emile and his detonation of the Red Mercury Bomb he had. I knew I couldn't let this bomb go off and that would mean I would lose my cover that night. But I wanted to keep it for as long as I could but that was challenged when my superior Irving Lambert was captured by the JBA and Emile gave me the task of killing him. Again the choice was put upon me. But I turned the pistol on Washington who was in the room with us and I killed him. I left Lambert and I only pray he survived.

But my cover was blown. All the members of the JBA were after me and I had to defuse that bomb. With the help of Miss Villablanca, I entered the labs below the headquarters, found the bomb and defused it. I also killed Defraisne when he resisted surrender. But before he died he told me about one more Red Mercury bomb his muscle, Carson Moss had. When SWAT came in I resisted arrest and escaped to go and find Moss.

He had the bomb on Ellis Island where he intended to blow up the Statue of Liberty in a final act. I was able to kill Moss and disarm the bomb. Your reports will say that I fled the scene from where I disarmed the bomb and the truth is I did. I don't regret any decision I made over the course of time I was undercover because everything I did was in the best interest of this country and our security. You defiantly disagree with me due to the continued pursuit of law enforcements I have seen everywhere I go. I don't plan to turn myself in or bargain for my freedom.

And in closing there are some people I wish to give my good byes to, first to Enrica Villablanca. She is probably in US custody by now but I would like her to know I did not use her, I did care about her. That is the reason I kept her alive.

Secondly to Hisham Hamza and my gratitude for delivering this message to the proper eyes.

And Finally to Colonel Irving Lambert if he still alive, Thank you for all the great work we've done over the years. I will miss your nagging in my ear and the smile you would always give when a mission was complete. If the Colonel did not survive that night I send my regards to his family.

This is my final debrief. Good Bye, you will not hear from me again.

Signing off,

Sam Fisher.


	2. Sam Fisher: Hero or Terrorist

**2**

**Sam Fisher: Hero Or Terrorist**

Sam Fisher disappeared from the screen in the NSA conference room and the entire room was silent for a few moments. In the conference room were the people Sam Fisher had requested to see the video, President David Bowers, Secretary of Defense Frank Mason, Director of Operations Lawrence Williams, and Colonel Irving Lambert. The President sat at the far end of the conference table. He had a few reports in front of him with the NSA insignia on it. The President was in his late fifties having grey hair and no facial hair. He wore a black suit and a red tie.

Frank Mason sat to the left of him. Frank Mason was a tad taller than the President and had brown hair that was graying slowly. He also wore a black suit but had on a blue tie instead.

Lawrence Williams sat to the right of the President. He had been promoted to Director of Operations when Lambert disappeared helping Sam with his mission. It was too soon after the incident for Williams to know if he would keep that position even though Lambert was in the same room with him. Williams was against the double agent position Fisher was put into and was waiting for any opportunity to pull the plug on the operation. He came dangerously close when Lambert stepped down and disappeared to be somewhat of a field runner for Fisher. Williams was younger than both the President and Mason.

Irving Lambert and Hisham stood on either side of the screen waiting for the President or Mason's response. Lambert had a few cuts on his face and his arm was in a sling. Those injuries were from his capture by the JBA. He would have died if Sam hadn't blown his cover that night. Hisham was the youngest one there and wasn't technically suppose to be in this conference due to his age and his CIA status. But due to the circumstances that Fisher put him in, Lambert requested he stayed and sat in on the conference.

"Mr. President?" Lambert finally said breaking the silence. The President looked up at Lambert. He sighed and shook his head.

"This clears a lot of questions but from the report I've gotten from both you and Director Williams I can not say that this man is an innocent man. That's overlooking the fact that his supposed NOC status is nowhere to be seen on his file. Up against a court, there is not enough evidence to prove that Sam Fisher was working undercover."

Lambert silently growled. He was enraged that the NOC status was unexplainably erased. It made Sam look like he was actually an associate of the JBA. Lambert thought he could use the information Fisher collected during his time undercover but it wouldn't clear Sam of treason.

"Mr. President, there was an NOC status on Sam Fisher's file but it was erased some how." The Secretary of Defense almost laughed.

"Was some how erased?" He mocked. " How does that happen Colonel? NOC statuses don't just disappear." Lambert hesitated before the next words came from his mouth but he finally said it,

"I'm bringing forth a possibility that there might be someone in the NSA who wanted Sam Fisher convicted."

"You're saying there's a mole in the NSA?" The President said taking it very seriously unlike Williams and the Secretary of Defense.

"Colonel, the NSA are the people who find moles, if you had one on your team we would have known by now. I doubt if Agent Fisher was even granted a NOC status at all. If that were the case we should think of him as a terrorist and a threat to this country."

"How can you say that?" Hisham exclaimed out of his silence. Lambert had advised him not to say anything but this was too much for him. "Sam Fisher has served his country his entire life. The SEALS, CIA, Third Echelon, these are all the ways Sam Fisher has sacrificed everything for this country and you're just gonna let him loose as a terrorist?" The President was still undecided unlike Mason and Williams. He remained silent for a while until he looked up and said,

"I'm sorry but yes. Due to the lack of evidence supporting Sam's duty to his country and his resistance of arrest I have no choice but to convict him of treason against this country. If he's still in the country we need to find him and bring him to justice." Lambert's heart sank. His friend was now deemed a terrorist. "We need to use every asset we have to track down Sam Fisher and do whatever is necessary to make sure he doesn't threaten National Security." The President finished. He closed the file in front of him and stood up.

"Is that all?" Lambert didn't answer so Williams did for him. With a grin on his face he shook the President's hand and said,

"Yes Mr. President. Thank you for your time. The NSA will do everything in its power to find Sam Fisher."

"I hope so." The President mumbled. He exited the conference room with Mason right behind him. Once they had left and the door was closed Lambert looked at Williams with disgust.

"You wanted this to happen?" Williams acted like had no idea what Lambert was talking about.

"Excuse me?" he remarked.

"You never agreed with Sam's methods or the operation itself and just because it continued against your will you wanna bring down Sam." Lambert accused. Williams kept a straight face and shook his head.

"True I didn't agree with the methods but since I never saw Sam's NOC status I can only assume he never had one." Lambert was about to say Williams had seen the NOC status but now that he thought about it, only Lambert had seen that file before the NOC status was erased. He couldn't prove anything. Williams shook his head once again.

"I didn't want to say this yet Colonel but you've been relieved of your position as Director of Operations, permanently. The NSA thinks you've done your job well and its time for new management. You don't need to worry about this anymore. You can go home, you're done." Lambert was shocked for a few moments but Hisham wasn't.

"You can't do this! The Colonel has been doing a damn good job!"

"He has but the Joint Chiefs believe his injuries and connection with Fisher are too much for him to handle. They think with his record this might be a good opportunity for the Colonel to be relieved." Williams explained. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to work." He didn't let Hisham protest. He retreated from the room casually leaving Lambert shocked in a chair and Hisham exploding with anger.

Anna Grimsdóttír pulled up to the train yard a few miles away from NSA headquarters. It was out in the middle of nowhere and the closest person was on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Anna was in her mid-thirties but looked younger. She had brown hair just above her shoulders and had green eyes. She wore a brown skirt and a white dress shirt. Over the shirt was a brown jacket matching her skirt. She sat in her Subaru Forester just outside the abandoned train yard. There were several overturned train cars and dead end tracks leading nowhere. Anna got an encrypted email from a Mortified Penguin .0. She usually would have deleted the email thinking it was spam but the address name caught her eye. Mortified Penguin was the alias of a mercenary by the name of Norman Soth. He was a mercenary of a terrorist organization that Third Echelon took down back in 2006.

_Anna_

_There are a few questions I need to ask._

_Train yard a few miles out of Fort Meade. _

_Come alone or not at all. I'll know if you're alone._

_Mortified Penguin .0_

Anna wasn't sure why she came. Curiosity probably. Usually when a terrorists using a silly alias like Mortified Penguin is taken out that's the last you hear of that name. Suddenly her cell phone that was attached just above the stereo started to vibrate. The ID read,

**Unknown Caller**

Anna considered not answering but she picked it up and said,

"Grimsdóttír." She barely finished the name when a scrambled voice came on.

"Get out of the car slowly and open all the doors of the car." Anna had heard this demand before. It was to make sure nobody was in the car with her. She slowly opened the door and got out of the car. She then quickly but carefully opened all the doors of the car including the trunk. She had the cell phone tightly pressed against her ear the entire time. When all the doors were opened the voice said,

"No walk ten feet from the car and place the keys on the ground. Slowly." Anna complied and put her keys on the ground. There was silence from the other line for a few moments then it went dead.

"Hello?" She called. She looked all around the train yard for any other person around. Suddenly an overturned train car's door opened and there was only darkness in the car. Anna wasn't armed with any weapon and now she wished she was. She didn't know what was coming from the car. She slowly started to walk toward it, very cautiously. Suddenly from the car came a long narrow suppressed Five-seveN pistol pointed straight at Anna. Anna froze when she saw it thinking she was going to be shot. But from the train car came a man Anna knew wasn't going to kill her.

"Sam?" she almost yelled. Sam put his finger up to his lips to make her quiet down. He scanned the area once again and slowly advanced toward Anna, his pistol still raised. Sam was dressed in black pants, a black shirt, a grey hoodie over that and a black leather jacket over that. His hair was very short and he had the sprouts of a beard growing on his face. Anna slowly stepped closer to Sam and said,

"Sam, it's okay nobody else came." She reassured but Sam wasn't satisfied yet. He grabbed Anna and pulled her into the train car and closed the door. It was dark for a few moments then there was a click and a hanging light bulb turned on. Inside the train car was a black mat, a laptop on a crate and a black messenger bag next to it.

"It should be safe to talk in here." Sam said sitting down on another crate. "Sorry for the extra precautions…" Anna interrupted him and said,

"No I understand why. When I saw Mortified Penguin I wasn't sure it was you." Anna smiled. Sam didn't. He walked over to his laptop and accessed the Internet. He went onto the FBI homepage then went to the top ten most wanted.

"Number four." He said solemnly. Anna walked over to the laptop and looked at the screen. She had see the FBI most wanted many times but this time there was a familiar face on the fourth spot. There on number four was Sam's picture looking back at her. It was the mug shot Sam had taken when he was thrown in Ellsworth State Penitentiary.

"They're saying I'm a terrorist now." Sam commented, "I don't understand it. I saw the NOC status put on my file. That should clear my name of any acts I did while undercover." Anna was speechless for a while but then said,

"Well we can fix this. With your testimony…"

"My testimony isn't worth shit." Sam cursed. "Without the NOC status it looks like I joined the JBA and abandoned the NSA. It doesn't matter if I helped take the JBA down. They still see me as a terrorist." He finished then turned to Anna. "I need some help Anna."

She gave him a sad look and said,

"Sam. You know how much I want to help you but if I do anything beyond Williams authority I could be called a terrorist as well."

"Williams? Then I take it Lambert's dead then." Sam said sadly. Anna quickly shook her head and said,

"No, no, no, Lambert's fine. He's got some cuts and bruises but he should be fine. Williams had him relieved and he took his position. Williams runs Third Echelon now." Though it was good news that Lambert was alive, Sam cursed that Williams had taken over Third Echelon.

"So Lambert can't help us." He said sadly. Anna sighed. She knew Lambert would want to help but without his Director status he had no way of helping. If Sam involved him he would only get Lambert into trouble. Anna wasn't sure if she could help Sam at all either.

"I need you to keep me updated on everything that's going on in Third Echelon. Only someone within the agency could have erased my NOC status, you don't need to figure out who I'll do that." Anna was hesitant.

"Sam, we work in the NSA. There's no guarantee that wherever I'm sending this information they won't be able to track it. You could be risking your hiding." Not to mention my job, Anna thought to herself.

"That's why I made Mortified Penguin .0. If your message is encrypted the NSA won't be able to read it no matter how hard they try. I know that doesn't really make sense but believe me it'll work." Anna thought for a moment. If she did this she could very well go to jail for treason if she was caught. But Sam was her friend. How could she turn her back on him?

"Okay, I'll do it. What will you do?"

"Last week I got an email from a man named Dane Cooney. Cooney was supposedly working with Alejandro Takfir, one of Emile Defraisne's associates."

"But the FBI arrested Alejandro and Massoud wouldn't their terrorists organizations crumble?" Anna asked. Sam shrugged.

"Maybe but I don't wanna take the chance that they didn't. If it were under different circumstances I'd let NSA deal with this but I think Williams is too focused on catching me to do clean up on the other aspects of his operation. Cooney obviously doesn't know I was a double agent and I could possibly use that to my advantage. Now you better go." Anna nodded and embraced Sam. Sam barely embraced back. Anna then walked to the door of the car and opened it. She was about to walk out but Sam called,

"Anna!" She turned and looked at him.

"I need you to do one more thing for me." Anna was a little hesitant to accept. What she was already doing would be counted as treason already. But she answered,

"Yeah."

"There was a terrorist in the JBA that helped me defuse the bomb that night. Her name was Enrica Villablanca. Next time you email Mortified Penguin could you give me a status on her?" Anna smiled and said,

"Sure Sam."

President Bowers walked into the oval office with Frank Mason behind him. They had been driven from Fort Meade to DC in a couple hours. When the doors were closed and it was only the President, Mason and a Secret Service Officer, the President finally said,

"Do you think I made the right decision Frank?"

"I can truly say yes sir. Sam Fisher was working with the JBA and committed several acts of terror."

"But there is no doubt that Fisher was responsible for the downfall of the JBA. Lambert can testify that he shot a terrorist instead of shooting him and we have video proof from the JBA headquarters that Sam killed every terrorist in the compound and defused a bomb the leader of the organization was gonna set off."

"True but the fact that he wasn't working under a NOC status could possibly say he just didn't want to kill a friend so the only option is to kill the terrorist in the room. When he does that the rest of the organization turns on him. Fisher takes them out in order to survive. Fisher admitted to setting a bomb on a cruise ship, murdering a crew of a Russian supertanker and much more. That's all we need." The President understood what Mason was saying he just didn't want to believe it. Something didn't seem right about this.

Mason looked out the window and saw that it was already very dark.

"I suggest you get some rest Mr. President. You have the meeting with the British Prime Minister tomorrow in London. The President remembered suddenly. The British Prime Minister and him were to discuss a security agreement tomorrow. The President nodded and retired to his room.

"Yeah?" The voice on the other end of the headset said. Sam waited a few moments before he responded and then said,

"Is this Cooney?" Sam sat in car he "burrowed" from a nearby parking lot. He got extremely lucky with this one. The keys were still in the car. It was a Volvo S80 which Sam thought was a little strange that a nice car like that was left with keys in it. Sam knew where he could change the plates of the car with fake ones so after this phone call he would do that.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Sam Fisher." He replied simply. There was a silence and then Cooney said,

"You shouldn't have called me."

"Why?" Sam said. Cooney had a low voice and he breathed hard when he was on the phone.

"All the cells were suppose to go to sleep after the attack of one of the other cells."

"I was new with the JBA, I wasn't very clear with all the regulations. Now are you gonna help me or not?" There was another silence followed by Cooney sighing and saying,

"Yeah that's what my email was about wasn't it?"

"Where do you wanna meet?" Sam said clearly.

"Whoa! we can't meet. That'll just draw attention to us." Cooney exclaimed. Sam was just getting annoyed with this guy now.

"Listen Cooney. After the attack the Feds are breaking down doors to find us JBA. I need some place to hide before they find me. Now if you want my help you're gonna have to set a meeting spot." That was the gamble Fisher was putting on. Cooney could easily hang up right there and Fisher would be back to step one. But luckily Cooney's voice came back on.

"Where are you?" he answered. Sam smiled, he had their attention.

"Maryland, I'm getting out of the country unless you guys are already here." Cooney didn't say anything but he hummed in concentration for a second but then he said,

"Ratsford airstrip, just a few miles out of Fort Meade. There will be a private jet waiting for you as well as a guy named Crow who directs our airlines out of Ratsford." Sam had to contain himself from laughing at the nickname.

"I'm on my way now."

Ratsford airstrip was barely an airstrip, more like a long stretch of concrete with vegetation growing on it, a small warehouse with a plane without a wing and a few biffs that had fallen on their sides. Sam stopped the car and pulled his messenger bag out with him. He left everything else in the car thinking he would come back to get it. Inside his bag was his SC-20K without any ammo in it, a pair of goggles, both things he grabbed from the JBA headquarters the night he broke cover, and his knife. Sam examined the airfield and put his bag on the ground. He crouched down and pulled out his knife and put it in the sheath on the back of his waist. He also put his pistol in his shoulder holster at his side. He pulled the bag over his shoulder and walked toward the strip. Suddenly he heard a slight bussing sound in the air. He looked up and saw a Cessna Citation Mustang VLJ Private Jet. It started to descend onto the tarmac and finally landed and stopped a few feet away from Sam. Sam started to walk toward the jet as the passenger door lowered. Out of the door came a man wearing a Fedora and had a big Remington Shotgun strapped to his back with a black strap. He wore clothes similar to Sam's with the black pants, black t-shirt and black leather jacket. The man himself wasn't intimidating, it was the Remington that intimidated Sam. Sam didn't have time to think if he should hide from this guy. He quickly saw Sam and his car and called out a few words in an Irish mumble. Then from the warehouse came a squad of men in masks. Most of them had Uzis pointed toward Sam.

"Get on the fucking ground!" They shouted from across the strip. Sam drew his pistol in a petty attempt to defend himself.

"What's going on? I talked with Dane Cooney, he said a jet would be waiting for me."

"Drop the gun!" shouted one of the men in the mask. All the men who were rushing him had slight Irish accents to them. Sam knew he was out manned and out gunned so he clicked the safety on the Five-seveN and then tossed it to the floor. He then got down on his knees and put his hands on his head.

"I surrender just chill out." Sam called but the men continued to rush him. One man picked up Sam's pistol with one hand and had his Uzi still pointed at Sam.

"Give us the bag!" another man in a mask shouted. Sam put the bag on the ground next to him. It barely touched the ground when it was swiped by one of the men. Sam didn't see where it went. The last thing he remembered was the sharp pain of something hard hitting the back of his head and the taste of concrete.


	3. The ERU

**3**

**The ERU**

The door of the Las Vegas apartment flung open quickly and SWAT members and FBI ran through the door.

"FBI!" one of the agents yelled as he came into the room. But there was only silence in the apartment. SWAT quickly started to clear each room making sure there was no one in the apartment. Finally someone yelled,

"Clear!" and the FBI agents holstered their weapons.

"Let's start working on this place." One of the agents said. They immediately got an inspection team up into the apartment and the two agents went straight for the computer that was in the living room.

"This is Jonathan Bate's computer. This might be exactly what we are looking for." One of the agents said. Luckily the computer was already logged into. The agent sitting at the computer started looking through the computer until he found what he was looking for.

"This should be it." He said when he found the file. He opened it and there were several files with codenames like: Vegas, John Brown and Operation GB. The agent quickly transferred the file names to the agency like protocol demanded then he clicked on the file. Bu there was something in the way. The access into the file was encrypted.

"Damn!" the agent said loudly. "The files are encrypted." The other agent walked up behind the first agent and started typing.

"This is easy stuff. It shouldn't take that long to crack." He continued to type and nothing seemed to be happening. Suddenly the file started to become unencrypted. All the words that seemed to be nonsense started making absolute sense. The agent started reading one of the files and gasped at what he was seeing.

"We've got to report this. It could mean…" he was interrupted by a sudden beeping noise coming from the computer and a notice that popped up on the screen.

"What the hell is that?" one of the agents said. The notification was encrypted at first but then started to unencrypt like the files had before. The words slowly started to make sense.

"By the time you read this entire thing..." one of the agents started reading but stopped when he read the last words.

…**You will be dead.**

Suddenly the computer exploded right in the agent's faces blowing them across the room. The explosion was big and the explosion incinerated the entire room.

"Bates! This is over!" Captain Logan Keller shouted through the wooden door of the hotel suite in Las Vegas.

Inside the suite was a man named Jonathan Bates. Bates had come into the hotel with a pack of C4 strapped to his chest and two automatic pistols. Luckily he only had minimal security with him and Keller and Rainbow 6 easily killed the rest of his "Freedom Fighters". Bates instead of blowing himself up, he panicked and ran up to the suites. He took the occupants of the suite hostage saying if any police or Rainbow came into the room he would blow the C4. This was the part of Logan's job that he needed to be calm.

"I read you and your groups file Jonathan. You call yourself freedom fighters, people who wanna change this government, thinking it's too corrupt! But you're not the type to come into a building intending to blow it up. That's why you didn't blow in the lobby and that's why you're not gonna blow in there!" Logan shouted. Though he shouted, his mind was in slow motion thinking of the negotiation strategies he was taught such a long time ago.

"Logan, probably three minutes." A voice said from Logan's earpiece. Logan barely acknowledged. He kept his eyes on the door possibly thinking that if he stared at it for a while it might magically open.

But magic wasn't an option here.

"Now you've got police everywhere, you are surrounded."

"Logan, you're making him feeling trapped. The more trapped he feels the more likely he's gonna blow that C4 planted on his chest" The voice of the Hostage Negotiation Specialist, Nancy Housen, that was down below in the streets. Bates had destroyed the phone lines and there wasn't enough time to get her up to talk to her so she was coaching Logan on how he would do this.

But Logan knew exactly what he was doing.

"This isn't what your Freedom Fighters group is about. You believe in altering this government, not blowing it up. So I'm thinking this isn't you. Someone is putting you up to this. Who is it, we can help you."

"Ready to take the shot Logan." The voice in his earpiece said.

"No negative, we need him alive!" Logan yelled. But he knew the rookie was gonna take the shot anyway. He quickly kicked the door open.

The room was large with large windows looking out onto the strip of Las Vegas. Hostages stood up against the window in Bate's fear of snipers but the rookie Isaac Owens was at a higher elevation so he had a perfect shot on Bates. Bates stood in the middle of the room with an automatic pistol pointed at the door and in the other shaking hand was a trigger for the C4 packed on his chest.

Logan rushed into the room firing his USP pistol down lower toward Bate's legs. His first shot his Bates in the legs and he collapsed to the ground while firing in the air. There was a deafening shot that came from outside the building. Logan quickly jumped to his left and the bullet from the sniper clinked against the ground. Bates got up and pointed his pistol at Logan. The dive left Logan disoriented for a few moments. Had Bate's pistol not been empty, Logan would have died right there. But the empty pistol clicked indicating it was empty. Bates groaned in frustration, tossed the pistol at Logan then raised the trigger so everyone could see it. Luckily the rookie saw it and fired once again. Another deafening shot rang out and Bates cried out in pain.

"Rookie did you kill him?" Logan yelled panicking when Bates fell to the floor.

"Negative sir, just his arm." Isaac's voice said through his earpiece. Logan stood up and walked to the fallen Bates. He walked up to his body then saw his arm was decapitated from the elbow. Logan saw a few feet away was the rest of his arm with his hand still clutching the trigger. Logan diverted his look to Bates again.

"I need a medical unit up here now!" Logan holstered his USP and crouched next to Bates. He pulled a roll of bandages from his belt and started wrapping the bloody end of his arm. Bates had slipped into shock the moment he saw his arm and fell unconscious.

"Where is that damn Medical unit?" Logan yelled again. He finished wrapping the stub as the medical unit came it. They quickly pushed Logan away and started working on Bates.

"I need him alive!" Logan commanded. The unit ignored him and continued to work on him. Logan waited for a while but then turned to face the hostages. Most of them were still pressed up against the window and others had ducked for cover.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Logan said so all the hostages could hear him.

"My name is Captain Keller, I'm with Rainbow 6, I'm here to get you out of here. Everyone move toward the door in an orderly fashion and move to the base of the building, use the staircase, not the elevator. My partner will be waiting for you at the bottom."

"Logan we need you at the bottom as well, I'm making a quick pickup." Another voice said in Logan's ear. The voice belonged to the Rainbow 6 intelligence officer, Nathan Cornel. The familiar British voice was a voice Logan commonly heard in his ear even before he was appointed Team Leader. Logan started his way out toward the staircase. He clicked his ear and said,

"Nathan, what's going on?"

"There's a situation that we've been called into, it has to do with Jonathan Bates. Secretary of Defense Mason called us onto this one himself. In fact he'll be briefing you when you get to the chopper. Hurry, the rookie and Michael are already here."

"I'll get right to it Keller." Frank Mason said on the screen of the Rainbow 6 helicopter. The helicopter lifted into the air and started moving very quickly over the strip. "This morning the FBI was sifting through Jonathan Bate's apartment. When they looked on his computer they found several encrypted emails. When they unencrypted them, the computer exploded and all the information and our agents were gone. The agents were dead from the explosion. The only thing they sent us was the names of the files. The files were entitled, Vegas, John Brown and Operation GB."

"Do you know what any of those mean?" Michael Walters, the demolitions specialist of the Rainbow teams asked.

"Well we have a hunch the Vegas file was referring to today's deal at the hotel, the only other file name we recognize is John Brown. We have no guarantees but it might be connected to the recent terrorist group that FBI raided a few days ago, but that's unlikely because the JBA was not on Jonathan Bate's known associates and the same for the JBA's known associates. The only lead we have is demolitions used on the computer. They were custom made and luckily…" the secretary was about to finish his sentence when Logan interrupted.

"They are easily tracked if identified right."

"Exactly Captain Keller. And we hit this one right on the head. They were made in a Mexican border town called Nuevo Laredo. The explosives were made by a man by the name of Philippe Ortega at his appliance store in Nuevo Laredo. Unfortunately The Mexican government is being stingy about the whole ordeal and is not allowing American forces into the country without going through the paper work we don't have the time to fill out." The secretary informed them. Keller already knew what the Secretary was gonna say.

"So you want us to go in there as civilians and bring him across the border without notifying Mexican authorities." He took the words out of Secretary Mason's mouth.

"Exactly. Now I know this is a risky mission. If you're caught…" Logan interrupted the Secretary once again and said,

"No Mr. Secretary. We wanna bring down this organization and make sure none of those files are pulled out if they threaten National Security.

"Thank you Captain Keller and good luck. Your Mexican contact is a woman by the name of Ingrid. She'll find you once you're across the border and give you your necessary weapons." Then the secretary disappeared from the screen and Logan looked at Nathan. Nathan had a concerned look on his face that Logan had come to recognize in the small time they had worked together.

"Put us down in Laredo Texas. We'll go across the border and then we'll go from there."

Sam woke on a carpet floor. His coat and sweatshirt had been removed. His shoes and socks were in front of him in front of a fireplace.

"Sam Fisher." A voice said from behind him. Sam quickly was alert and jumped to his feet. But his efforts were quickly diminished when he felt a hard rod hit him in the back of the head. He collapsed to the floor once again but this time in front of somebody's feet. Sam looked up and saw a man that was older than Sam probably in his mid-sixties. He had grey hair that was neatly cut unlike most of the men that surrounded Sam. They all had dirty long hair and with some, Sam couldn't know if that was their actual hair color or just dirt.

"My name is Desmond. That's all you'll know me by, that's all you'll know about me." The man said crouching down to near to Sam. He spoke with an Irish accent and with indication from mumbles that Sam heard from the rest of the men, he guess they did too.

"Where am I?" Sam asked grabbing his head. Desmond smiled and stood back up.

"Ireland Mr. Fisher. And now I ask the questions. Not you. Cooney tells me you worked with Emile Dufraisne, very closely actually. And yet when the FBI raids the JBA, Emile ended up dead and you survive free as a fucking bird. How does that happen?"

"I escaped how hard is that for you to comprehend?" Sam said basically telling the truth. Only leaving out the part where he killed Emile himself. "Emile was too stupid to not only set off the nuke in the base but wait for the cops to come and take him out."

Desmond stood and walked across the room to a window.

"Well Sam even though your story is far fetched I must believe you so my objectives may be carried out."

"What do you mean?"

Without looking Desmond said, "My organization wasn't directly business partners with Emile but we were partners with Alejandro and just before Alejandro was arrested he sent Cooney to my organization with the location of a weapon that my organization could use any target we wanted. We've already set the target but we need the weapon."

"What kind of weapon is this?" Sam asked. He was reaching for some kind of lead.

"Not your concern at this moment. While you were with Emile he set you up with an retinal account with the JBA right?" Cooney asked.

"Yes. But it was only for the complex."

"And one last more thing. Alejandro intended to use this weapon for another strike with Emile. They called it, _Operation Aftershock_." Desmond explained. "The weapon is kept in a vault that can only be opened by a JBA member's retinal scan. Now that Alejandro's organization is in crumbles the weapon belongs to me. That's why I need you Mr. Fisher."

"You need my retinal ID. What do I get out of this?" A larger terrorist pulled out a switch blade and said,

"Would you rather we take the ID by force?" Sam wasn't shaken by the threat.

"I'll give you the scan if you get me a ride out of the US to a foreign country of my choice and never contact me again." Sam said. There was a silence. Sam kept his eyes on Desmond waiting to see if he would give a nod that would give the bigger terrorist the go ahead to cut out Sam's eye. Sam wasn't looking forward to that.

But Desmond didn't nod. He had seen something outside. Cooney came up to him and whispered something in his ear. Desmond listened then whispered something in his ear.

Suddenly Desmond was alert. He turned to Sam and said,

"Very well Mr. Fisher. Gear up, you'll help us out of here." Sam didn't know what was going on but he saw his bag tossed to him so he quickly opened it and armed himself. He pulled on a shoulder holster over his black shirt and then holstered his Five-seveN. He then pulled his SC-20K out and started to load it. Once loaded he clipped it to his back then pulled his knife out.

"Forget the rest Sam." Desmond's voice said from behind him. He had gone into the next room and grabbed a Desert Eagle.

"What's going on?"

"The ERU is here. We've been compromised. Get ready to shoot your way out Fisher. Follow Me." Desmond ran to the door and opened it to a staircase where Cooney and some other terrorists were in ski masks. Sam followed Desmond toward Cooney and the rest where he was handed a Ski mask. Sam quickly put it on and so did Desmond.

"Alright, let's go." Desmond whispered leading the group down the stairs. Sam pulled out his Five-seveN and stood behind Cooney. The group of terrorists moved like a Special Forces unit which surprised Sam. The moved down the stairs quickly. They entered a large room with a table in the middle, a fireplace to the right and a door at each corner. At the opposite side of the room was a set of large doors.

Suddenly those doors burst open and men in armor and silenced weapons appeared at the end of it. Desmond was the first to fire. With one quick shot, one of the ERU members was hit. One ERU member tossed a small grenade into the room.

"Shield your eyes!" Desmond called but it was too late. The flash bang grenade went off and Sam's eyes were blinded for a moment. There was also a ringing that blotted out all sound but some how he heard a voice out of the ringing.

"Create a smoke shield!" Cooney commanded. Sam felt something hard hit him and knock him to the floor. By the time his sight came back there was only one plume of smoke and he tasted carpet again. He looked around and saw Cooney, Desmond and the other terrorists that weren't shot dead were on the ground in handcuffs.

There was a lot of yelling and swearing but finally Sam was cuffed and pulled and against the wall by an ERU officer.


	4. Enter Seth Brooks

**4**

**Enter Seth Brooks**

"Director Williams." A Third Echelon agent by the name of Elton Brown called as he entered Director William's office. "A photo uplink from Irish ERU just came through from a terrorist raid they just performed. You might wanna see the photos." Williams stood up and followed the agent out of the office.

A minute later they were at the Elton's desk looking at a series of pictures that were linked from ERU to NSA. Williams pointed at one of the pictures and said,

"Who's this guy?"

"Desmond McCray. Former INLA. Was suspected to take part in the Billy Wright assassination. Was opposed to the Ceasefire in 98 that he continued his radical actions until 99 when he went underground. He disappeared for a little less then a decade then appeared back a few months ago in Dublin attempting to detonate an explosive in the Custom House that would have leveled the entire house. The attempt was foiled by an ERU operation that was covered up by the government to prevent fear of the INLA 's return in the people Ireland's minds. Desmond disappeared and hasn't turned up until now." Agent Brown read from Desmond's profile. "But that's not the worst part about it Mr. Williams." Brown went up and clicked on another picture.

Up on the screen was Sam Fisher's picture.

"What the hell is Fisher doing in Ireland?" Williams said to himself. He then looked to Brown and said,

"Get me the head of the ERU unit holding Fisher on the phone in my office now."

Sam was sat up against the wall and was stripped of his mask. An ERU officer went to each terrorist and took a picture of him, which included Sam. Desmond was taken into a separate room behind closed doors.

There were three officers watching all the terrorists lined up on the wall. Sam was sitting right next to Cooney who had a large bruise on his forehead and knocked out cold. They had taken Sam's weapons and all his other gadgets were back in his bag upstairs. They probably were already checking that.

Suddenly an ERU officer ran into the room. He was carrying a satellite phone and had a silenced SMG dangling at his torso by a strap. He ran to the door where they had isolated Desmond. He didn't bother knocking he simply opened the door. Sam got a glimpse of the inside of that room. Desmond was behind a table, handcuffed to a chair. He had a black eye, Sam wasn't sure if that was from the interrogation or the initial assault into the house. The leader of the ERU was in there interrogating Desmond when the ERU agent came in and handed him the satellite phone. The agent grabbed the phone and talked on it for a while. Then he looked straight at Sam. Sam wasn't sure if they were talking about him or if watching him on the phone wasn't allowed or something. The agent nodded and kept his gaze on Sam. Now Sam knew that he was talking about him.

The agent finally hung up the phone and stood there for a moment. He was thinking something up. He then said a few words to the agent who brought the phone. He then walked out of the room with the other agent and closed the door. The other agent rushed off somewhere else and the head agent started walking toward Sam. Sam's heart started to race when suddenly he felt something attached to the back of his waist. It was his knife. The ERU hadn't taken it off him. Sam waited. He knew revealing it now would only get him killed. The ERU agent in charge came up to him and said,

"Sam Fisher?" Sam looked at him with a hard glance but he didn't say anything. The Agent had a thick cockney accent that even a child could point out.

"I'd like to have a word with you." When Sam didn't move the agent grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up. He walked him toward the staircase up to the room Sam had first woken up in a little over an hour ago. They entered the room and the agent put Sam in a chair behind a table like he had done with Desmond then told every ERU agent in the room to leave.

"So your Sam Fisher." The agent said pulling up a chair backwards and straddling it in front of Sam. "My names Paul."

Sam didn't respond. He just looked solemnly at Agent Paul. He didn't plan on saying anything.

"I've read your file Fisher. Seems like you served your country damn well. Navy Seals, Bloody CIA. Impressive record but it was under wraps. Seems like you or some one else doesn't want us or some one else to know your record." Sam looked at Paul. It was like he knew he wasn't really on Desmond's side.

"Listen Fisher. I know our chances of holding onto Desmond for a long time are pretty slim. Now some guy by the name of Williams wants you back in a chopper and heading stateside in the next fifteen minutes but I think you can serve a better purpose. But you gotta tell the truth. Are you truly with Desmond?"

Fisher kept his dead stare but in his mind he was torn. Should he trust this guy? His choices were slim. Either work with this man in bringing Desmond down with slim chances of success, or go back to the states and face Williams. Sam finally made up his mind and leaned closer.

"How do we wanna do this?" a smile slipped onto Paul's face and he leaned closer.

"My men have already seen Desmond's reinforcements on their way. It's too much for us to handle and they're too close for us to get out of here. I've already told some of my men to get out of here. You've got your knife. I'm gonna unlock your cuffs then you need to get down there and escape with Desmond and the rest of the group. I'd appreciate it if you would put minimal casualties on my men but the ones who have stayed know what they are getting into."

"Why are you putting all your trust in me?" Sam asked.

"To tell the truth Fisher. It's mostly instinct. But if I don't my men will die anyway. This way we have a chance of actually putting Desmond in the ground or in a cell." Paul said standing up and walking behind Sam. He pulled out a key and unlocked the cuffs on Sam's wrists. Sam jumped from the chair and pulled out his knife. He then put it to Paul's neck.

Paul was a little surprised but then he knew what Sam was doing.

"You ready?" Sam said. Paul took a deep breath and nodded.

"Let's go." Sam walked forward with his knife still at Paul's neck. They opened the door where a guard was.

"Back off, I'll kill him!" Sam yelled to the guard who had already raised his weapon. The guard kept his weapon up but backed off.

"I want Desmond released and brought up to this room!" The guard didn't move. Sam pressed the knife closer to Paul's neck.

"Do it!" Sam yelled backing him and Paul back into the room. He closed the door and released Paul.

"That was good." Paul said. He reached for his holster and pulled out a USP pistol. "Take this. It'll protect you better than the knife." Sam still didn't quite understand the risk Paul was putting himself at but he grabbed the pistol and checked the ammo. Suddenly there was a knocked at the door. Sam quickly grabbed Paul and put the USP to his right temple.

"Open the door!" Sam called to the people behind the door. The door opened and Sam quickly covered his eyes just incase they intended to use another flash bang grenade. But there was no flash and no bang.

"Send him in!" Sam yelled. Then through the door came Desmond. Sam nodded and said, "Close the door." Desmond did so then said,

"Well done Fisher. Really I didn't think you could do it but well done. Got this bastard." Desmond said pointing at Paul. Sam pushed Paul forward and pointed the pistol at him.

"Take a seat." He said to Paul in character. Paul was on his way to doing that when Desmond quickly threw a punch right at Paul's face. Paul took the blow and collapsed to the floor.

"How does it feel?" Desmond said as he started to kick Paul. Sam kept a hard face.

Once Desmond was satisfied for the moment he pushed Paul toward the chair where Sam had been sitting.

"So what do we do Fisher? What's the escape plan?" Desmond asked whipping Paul's blood off his fist.

"You guys are coming soon. We just need to wait till they arrive then we'll get out of here."

"Desmond!" a voice called from behind the door. Sam quickly rushed behind Paul and put the pistol to his head.

Desmond walked to the door and yelled back,

"What?"

"I'm just here to talk. Can I come in there? I am unarmed." The voice said back. There was an Irish accent in the voice.

"You better be or else Paulie boy over here gets a bullet in his head from my buddy Fisher." Sam stood behind Paul silently as the door opened and a bald man walked through.

"You're the negotiator?" Desmond said. The man nodded. He was in a suit and didn't really look like a cop except for his empty shoulder holster. Desmond quickly searched the man. The man looked at Sam and Paul.

"Why don't you put that down? I'm no threat to you so there is no reason for those kind of measures." Sam didn't put the pistol down.

"What have you got to offer?" Sam said totally in character. The man was about to answer but Desmond interrupted.

"You know what. We don't need his negotiation shit here." Desmond said taking control. He looked to the man and said, "Listen buddy. You go out there and tell whoever took Paulie here's job that my boys are coming to pull my ass out of here and if they don't split they're all gonna be pulled out of here in body bags."

"If your friends are coming then you don't need Agent Paul here." Desmond laughed for a few seconds then threw a punch to the negotiator's stomach. He groaned in pain but it was muffled by Desmond's hand over his mouth.

"That wasn't part of the deal buddy. Now you go out there and tell your boys to hightail it out of here or else Paulie here isn't gonna be the only one with a bullet in his head." Desmond threatened then opened the door and pushed the man out. They didn't even catch his name.

Williams was back on the phone calling the satellite phone he had called just over fifteen minutes ago. The ERU agents had probably already processed Fisher and sent him on his way to the US.

"Yes?" a voice that wasn't the special agent in charge, Paul McDowell.

"Who is this? Where's Agent McDowell."

"Uh Its actually not a good time for agent McDowell to answer right now." The voice that answered said. He was already getting on William's nerves.

"Why?"

"There's been a situation and now Agent McDowell is a hostage." The voice said.

"Listen, that situation is secondary. I need Sam Fisher on a plane to the US in the next ten minutes."

"That's just it sir. Sam Fisher is the hostage taker." Williams cursed Sam's name and hung the phone up. He thought for a moment then got his idea. He reached over and clicked the intercom on his phone.

"Agent Brown." He called. A split second of silence passed and then Brown's voice answered.

"Yes Mr. Williams?"

"Get Seth Brooks in my office immediately." Brown didn't respond at first but he soon answered,

"Yes sir but it'll take me a few…"

"Brown, Just get him on the phone for a start." Williams said clicking the intercom off. He then accessed his computer and opened some restricted files. He put his pass code in and the files were opened. He typed the name Seth Brooks in and after a few moments of loading, a profile came up.

**Seth Brooks**

**Classified File**

**Splinter Cell Project**

"Desmond!" a voice called again from behind the door. Desmond looked at Sam annoyed. He walked up to Sam, grabbed the USP he was carrying and fired two shots at the door.

"I told you I wasn't doing any negotiation until my boys come!" Sam guessed the bullets either didn't pass through the door or they missed the negotiator but to make sure Desmond didn't do that again Sam grabbed the pistol.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sam whispered. "Do you wanna get shot before the reinforcements come?" Desmond looked at Sam suddenly very angrily.

"How do you know these "reinforcements" are coming at all? We're just listening to this prick?"

"They're coming."

"They better or else Paulie here will have no purpose to us." Sam looked at Paul. He suddenly saw fear on his face. Maybe he was just now realizing what he was got himself into.

Suddenly there was a gunshot from downstairs. Sam lifted the pistol toward the door. More fire spread through the lower level until there was an uneasy silence.

"Give me the gun." Desmond said. Sam was hesitant but he handed the gun over to Desmond. Desmond slowly walked to the door and opened it. Before he walked through he looked back at Sam and said,

"Just stay here." After that Desmond walked through the door and disappeared.

"We need to get you out of here." Sam said once Desmond disappeared pulling Paul to his feet.

"I don't know Fisher." Paul said. His cockney voice was quivering.

"That's reinforcements right there. If Desmond comes back, he's going to kill you. You need to get out of here." But just as Sam finished the sentence Desmond came back into the room.

"It's Crow and his men. The ERU team is dead but we better get out of here before more come thinking they're gonna help these bastards." Sam didn't say anything about Paul hoping that Desmond would just forget about him. But Desmond looked straight at Paul.

Within a second he lifted the USP and pulled the trigger.

"No!" Sam yelled but no sound came out of his mouth. It wouldn't have made a difference.

The bullet went straight to the head. Blood splattered onto the floor behind Paul as he collapsed to the floor.

"Let's go Fisher. Your gear is all downstairs." Desmond said throwing the pistol to the floor.

Sam wasn't surprised from Paul's fate. He knew it would happen if Paul had stayed and Paul probably knew what he was doing would get him killed. He crouched down by the body and slowly closed Paul's eyelids.

Sam stood up and walked out of the room. He quickly caught up to Desmond as they came down to the main level once again. The terrorists were pilling the bodies of the dead ERU agents in one corner of the room. There were more of them and one man Sam recognized. The man in the Fedora who had the Remington shotgun was standing the center of the room. Desmond walked up to him and started to speak with him,

"Just in time Crow. Let's get the hardware packed up and get out of here."

"Where are we going?" Sam asked. Desmond looked at Sam and said,

"We're gonna get that vault open Fisher. It's out in Mexico. Listen Fisher." Desmond pulled Sam to the side and spoke to him in private.

"You really saved us there. If you hadn't take Paulie up there hostage, things would have played out much differently. I was a little skeptical when we first met but know I realize why you were so close with Emile. I could use your skills for my organization." Desmond put out his hand intending for Sam to shake it as a sign that he was on board with joining Desmond's organization.

Sam knew he had said he didn't want to be involved with anything here but now that he had Desmond's trust he could possibly unwrap some more secrets. He thought for a few moments then took Desmond's hand.

"I suppose I could stick around for a little longer." Desmond smiled and patted Sam on the shoulder. Cooney came from behind Desmond and brought Sam's bag.

"This is a pretty advance equipment you got here Fisher. Where'd you get this stuff?" Desmond asked grabbing the bag and looking at items like the SC-20K and Sam's night vision goggles. Sam could tell that although Desmond was grateful to Sam, he still didn't quite fully trust him. He was still testing him. But Sam was quick to answer.

"I picked it up from the armory at the JBA Headquarters the night it was raided." It was actually true. The JBA had a pretty advanced armory and Sam had picked up the SC and the goggles that night. What he left out was the fact that he used it to kill some of the JBA members."

"I always knew Emile had a good taste in weaponry. Well I suggest you get that packed up in your car. You'll ride with me. The Mercedes as you yanks call it."

Seth Brooks was taking pictures of Parliament and other tourist locations in London when suddenly his cell phone rang. It was his Third Echelon phone. Seth brushed his long black hair out of his eyes and grabbed the cell phone from his messenger bag that was next to his five-seveN pistol. He put the cell phone to his ear and clicked the on button.

He didn't even say a word and there was someone on the other line. William's voice appeared on the other end of the call.

"Hello Seth. Is this line secure?"

"It always is." Seth answered.

"Good. We have a situation in Dublin that you could help us with. Sam Fisher has surfaced again."

"Fisher?" Seth said surprised. Sam Fisher had once been a legend in Seth's mind. That was a long time ago when he first joined Third Echelon.

"Yes. He's working with a known terrorist named Desmond McCray. McCray is not especially important. Fisher is the primary target. Take him out and any collateral on McCray's men will be a bonus. But do it quietly." Williams briefed quickly.

"That's my job isn't it?" Seth said smartly. Williams ignored the comment and finished.

"An osprey will be waiting for you at the location I'm sending you. Find Sam Fisher and eliminate him."


	5. Good Bye Dublin

**5**

**Good Bye Dublin**

Enrica Villablanca sat in a windowless room at a table in front of a one sided glass.

She was tired. She had only slept on the many drives of processing when the FBI would move her from one place to another. She started at the FBI building in New York. Then they received that the FBI building wasn't safe for her. Apparently they needed Enrica's information, enough to move her to a safer location.

They then moved her to a FBI safe house. She got to sleep an hour there then she was pushed into a car that drove her all the way to Maryland. She heard someone say that NSA wanted to take over the interrogation of the JBA operation.

They had reached the NSA headquarters a few hours ago and she was put in that room a little bit over an hour ago she wagered.

She was recollecting from the night of the raid on the JBA headquarters since that's what she suspected to be questioned on. The night had happened so fast. First she was watching everyone prepare for the bombs to be deployed. Then the alarm went off. She got word that Jamie was dead, shot by Sam.

Sam.

He hadn't left her mind since the raid.

She had escaped to the restricted section with Emile. Emile was talking about setting the second bomb off right there with everyone in the base. That scared Enrica. Once Emile went down into the elevator she waited at the elevator with Sam's gear. She didn't want to die. She questioned if she even believed in this cause anymore.

Just as she had suspected, Sam appeared. She didn't see him at first but then he came behind her…

"She's tired." Grimsdóttir said. She was monitoring the interrogation monitors for the interrogation. Williams was running the interrogation. Williams came up to the monitor and said,

"Good, focus a monitor on her eye movement. We'll be able to…"

"Pick up on something on her eye movement. Yeah I know." Grimsdóttir cut in.

"Are you okay Anna?" Williams asked. "You've been a little hostile lately." Grimsdóttir was surprised by the gesture Williams was trying to express toward her. Williams had always been a stiff hard nose by the book kind of guy who never asked about the condition of his workers. That's where he differed from Lambert. Lambert was professional of course but he kept taps on his analysts and made sure they were up to their par.

She almost didn't know how to answer but she said,

"I'm fine. A lot has happened since the FBI raided the JBA headquarters that's all." There was a pause then Williams said.

"Listen Anna. I know you and Fisher were good friends and all but…"

"I know what's at stake here Mr. Williams." Grimsdóttir snapped. "But I can't just put those feeling for my friend away Mr. Williams."

"Well your going to have to Grimsdóttir. Otherwise I might have to replace you." Grimsdóttir looked away. The tension was broken when the doors of the viewing room opened. Both Williams and Grimsdóttir turned and saw Doctor John Baxter walk in. Baxter was a NSA interrogations expert. Grimsdóttir remembered him working with Sam on a few missions.

"Good evening." He acknowledged as he walked through the door.

"Ah Doctor Baxter. I'm sure you won't be needed today but I like to be sure." Williams said walking to Baxter and shaking his hand.

"Shall we begin Anna?" Williams said turning to Grimsdóttir.

The opening of the door of the interrogation room interrupted Enrica's thoughts. A man in suit walked in.

"Hello Enrica." He said. He was carrying a file. Enrica was smart enough to know that file was all about her. He walked to the table and put the files on the desk and a pen next to it. He intended to use it but he didn't touch it yet.

"You and maybe two other JBA members, both in critical condition, were the only ones who survived the raid on the JBA headquarters. Yet you walk out of that place without a scratch on you. How does that happen?" Enrica was silent.

"Listen Enrica. I'm not gonna go any farther if your gonna give me the silent treatment. I've got a buddy in the next room who's very good at getting information out of people. Now what happened that night?" Enrica was hesitant to answer but then she started to explain her experience the night of the raid and she got through the entire story until she got to the part where she grabbed Sam's gear and encountered him in the hallway near the elevator.

"…And then Emile went into the elevator."

"What happened after that?" Williams asked. Enrica paused then said,

"I went and grabbed a pair of night vision goggles and a SC-20K." Williams was surprised by her answer.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't that Sam Fisher's preferred arming?" Enrica looked away and nodded.

"Why would you grab that?" Williams said.

"I was waiting for Sam to come up. I wanted to help him." Enrica finally said.

"Now why would you do that? He shot a friend of yours, Jamie Washington right? He's killing all the JBA members and you wanna help him kill your boss who you just sent down an elevator to set off a bomb that would prove your point to the government? What's going on here Enrica? Something doesn't add up here."

"I didn't want to die!" Enrica shouted. "Emile was gonna set off a bomb in the basement and it would kill me and a lot of people in New York."

"You're a terrorist Enrica! Sometimes people have to die to get a point across to the government! Isn't that right? You know better than I do!" Williams shouted back. Enrica was shocked by the response but she said,

"Well something changed. I didn't want to die. I didn't want those people to die!"

"Fine. What happened? Did Fisher show up? You two share a good-bye kiss? Thinking you'd run away with him once this was all done?" Enrica didn't respond.

"Well sorry to burst your bubble but Fisher is a terrorist still even if your not!" The words were like a strike in the face to Enrica.

"Now your gonna help us to find Fisher. Then if it makes you feel better you too can share a cell in prison if you really want to." The insults kept hurting Enrica. She had a sad expression on her face and she didn't look at Williams. She looked off to the side and off into something. Williams saw this and he calmed down a little.

"Enrica listen. If you have really changed like you say you have." Doubt was still in his voice but he was sincere to an extent. "You'll want to help us bring Fisher down. If you do that I can get you a pardon from the president that clears your name completely. Every crime you've committed in your lifetime will be wiped clean with no chance of it ever coming back. No one will know you were once a traitor to this country. You have five minutes to think about this. On one hand you have a second chance to start over and never worry about your past again, or Sam Fisher. That way can only get you killed." Williams bargained. He walked over to the door and entered the monitoring room. He turned to Grimsdóttir and said,

"What have we gotten from her retinal activity?" Grimsdóttir took a minute to respond. He was disgusted with the two faces of Williams. One minute he was beating it out of her then the next minute he was offering deals to her. It didn't make sense to Anna but she finally said,

"It spiked when you mentioned the deal and Sam Fisher for the first time."

"There had to be something going on between them. We could benefit from this." Williams said. He was about to say something else but then his phone rang. He grabbed it quickly and looked at the caller ID. He paused and said,

"I have to take this." He walked to the exit of the monitoring room and into the hallways of Third Echelon.

The voice on the other line of the phone said before Williams could say anything, "Is this a secure line?"

"Yes, but I can't say much. I can't risk the NSA security picking up on my side of this conversation."

"Fine, I'll do the talking. I'm in Dublin and I'm tracking McCray's convoy. They're heading toward a private airstrip nearby to the coast." The voice on the other line of the phone said. It was the Splinter Cell Williams sent after Fisher, Seth Brooks.

"Good. Remember, Fisher is the priority target but if you can get a shot off on McCray or any of his men. Take it. Any casualties with his men will be a bonus. I've already said too much. I must go." Williams said. He hung up the phone quickly and checked the hallways to make sure nobody heard him.

Once it was clear he returned to the viewing room.

"Anything yet?" he said quickly. Grimsdóttir looked and answered quickly,

"Nope, she got up and started walking around a minute ago." Williams smiled.

"She's considering it. We've got her."

"Mr. Williams. Are you sure this is right? Can you really get a pardon for her?" Williams gave a shrug without a care.

"Even if I can it won't make a difference. Once Fisher figures out she's working against him he'll most likely kill her." Grimsdóttir was shocked by the answer,

"Sam would never do that!" She suddenly realized that Williams was becoming blind with the obsession of bringing Fisher in. Williams was about to answer but suddenly they both realized that Enrica was right up next to the door that separated the interrogation room from the monitor room.

"What it she doing?" Williams said rushing to the door. He tried to open it but suddenly there was a beeping sound and he couldn't move the door. Enrica had locked herself in the interrogation room.

"What is she doing?" Grimsdóttir repeated. Enrica walked over to table and grabbed the pen that Williams had set on the table.

"Get security in here now! And get this door open!" Williams shouted. Doctor Baxter ran out of the door quickly.

The next thing that happened shocked both Williams and Grimsdóttir. Enrica plunged the pen tip into her wrist causing blood to spurt out from her wrist. She cried out in pain but kept it stuck in there as blood oozed from the wound. She then started to dig into her skin. Suddenly the pen wedged something out. The minute it was free from her skin she retracted the blood soaked pen from her wrist. She was barely moved by the blood coming from her wrist. She reached down to the floor and picked up the small object that had been in her arm. At first neither Williams or Grimsdóttir didn't know what the object was but suddenly Grimsdóttir gasped,

"She's got a cyanide pill. She's gonna commit suicide."

"Where the hell is security?" Williams yelled to nobody in particular.

Enrica stood in the middle of the interrogation room with the pill in her bloody palm. She didn't feel anything. It might have been the loss of blood affecting her mind but to her it was just her and the pill. Finally she quickly put the pill in her mouth and quickly swallowed. She didn't feel anything at first. The door of the interrogation room burst open and then she started to feel it. She quickly collapsed and lost consciousness.

Sam was exhausted from the standoff but he didn't sleep. As good as his trust level was with Desmond, he didn't trust him.

In the Mercedes was Desmond, Sam, Cooney and the driver, Sam thought his name was Hanson. Desmond was in the front passenger seat and Sam and Cooney were in the back. Every once in a while Cooney would try to make small talk with Sam but Sam just gave him a cold stare and didn't say anything. Cooney must have not been offended by it at all because he continued his attempts.

Suddenly a thought came into Sam's mind. He sat up and looked at Desmond.

"Desmond?" he whispered quietly. Desmond looked at him and said,

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you email me? Were other people you emailed?" Sam wondered.

"We emailed everyone once Alejandro was arrested. You were the only one who responded but if anyone else does we'll be sure to recruit any help we can get, or any backups we can get." Desmond said with a vicious smile. Sam didn't. Any other members of the JBA that happened to survive or avoid arrest would prove dangerous for Sam. Cooney pulled a bag from the floor of the car and pulled out a laptop.

"Once we retrieve the weapon in Mexico would you still recruit any sleeping JBA members?" Desmond gave Sam a strange look.

"Why?"

"Just looking after my friends in the JBA. I don't want any of them left out there without protection like the kind you could provide." Sam quickly improvised without a stutter.

"Well I suppose we could use some more help and it'd be a way to honor old Emile I guess. Oh here we are." Desmond said.

The Mercedes pulled onto a dirt road and drove through some wooded area until they got to an airstrip with a warehouse, a flight control tower and an airplane storage room. The Mercedes pulled up onto the tarmac and drove toward the tower. The sun was finally setting behind the tree that surrounded the airstrip and concealed it from any public view since it was used only for private use. The car finally stopped near the tower and Sam was about to get out but Cooney stopped him.

"Hold on." Desmond said without looking back. He nodded to Hanson who turned the car off. Desmond manually rolled the windows down and put his hand out which Sam noticed had an object in it. Desmond hovered his hand in the air then he clicked something on the object. There was a quick beam of red light that came from the object then he retracted his hand back into the car. He rolled the window open and they waited in silence.

After a few moments of long silence for Sam, he saw a man come out of the airplane storage warehouse.

"Let's go." They all got out of the Mercedes and started to walk toward the man. Sam looked behind them and realized he didn't see the other cars in the convoy. Cooney saw his look and knew exactly what he was thinking. He said,

"Don't worry. It's a security issue for Desmond. They'll be here in a few minutes." Sam shrugged and followed Desmond toward the man who emerged from the warehouse.

What he didn't know was that Seth Brooks was hidden behind the storage warehouse.

"Desmond." The man said once Desmond, Fisher and Cooney reached him. "Who's the new guy?"

"Dennis this is Sam Fisher. Sam Fisher this is Dennis Washburn. He's the best computer hacker in Europe. He's gonna help us get to the states."

Dennis was a thin man with black wide brimmed glasses. His hair was spiked and he looked like a college student the way he dressed.

"Go any word from the pilot of the plane? Is he coming?" the question gave Dennis a bad look and he shook his head.

"The pilot was arrested two days ago by the ERU. Bloody feds are really cutting down on us lately."

"Well that won't be a problem once we reach Mexico. The police there are as crooked as an Irish fence." The pun wasn't that good but some of the men laughed.

"Alright well Crow can fly this thing." Desmond reassured pointing to the barely visible plane in the storehouse. "So lets get these doors open and get going before the ERU gets wind of this place"

The rest of the men arrived and Crow started the jet. While Sam helped the other men open the doors and let the jet drive out of the hanger, Seth Brooks was crouched in the shadows. There weren't many shadows for him to hide in but he remained invisible. He wore the splinter cell uniform, a balaclava and a pair of goggle similar to Sam's but more advanced. The Splinter Cell watched and waited for an opportunity to complete his mission but as time went on he realized Sam always kept close to the group and it was almost impossible to make the kill without alerting the other terrorists, which was not in Brooks mission objectives. He wanted to kill each one silently and without notice until the very last possible moment.

Finally Brooks saw his opportunity. Not to kill Fisher but to sneak onto the plane and continue his waiting there. No one was near the entrance to the plane and it was anyone's guess on the passengers in the plane but Brooks had to take that chance. He quickly broke for the plane and climbed up into the plane without alert. Inside the tiny compartment he crouched down and observed his surroundings. He made sure nobody else was in the plane then he went to the back of the plane. He entered the cargo hold.

There were a dozen or so boxes of supplies, a perfect hiding spot for Brooks. He got behind the boxes and hunkered down for a while. He waited patiently for the perfect opportunity to complete his mission.

Finally the plane was fuelled and ready to lift off. Desmond got rid of all evidence that they were there, including hiding the vehicles in the woods and scrubbing them of fingerprints.

"Alright men." He said to the gathering of the men in his organization. He stood at the top of the stairs looking down at the group of half a dozen men. "The next time we'll see our beloved country of Ireland. It'll be the time when we clear our green lands of the tyranny of democracy and make the right government, the strong one!" It wasn't the most motivational speech to Sam but the rest of the men thought it was inspirational.

The group boarded the plane. Sam took a spot near the back of the plane where he sat alone. The plane started its engines and started to run down the tarmac. The engine of the plane was a lull to Sam's tired eyes and after long fighting to stay awake, Sam finally was taken by sleep.

He wouldn't have fallen so easily under that curse had he known that a man trying to kill him was on the other side of the wall he was leaning against.


	6. The Mexican Connection

Hint: Bao-Dur Uses the Force

**6**

**The Mexican Connection**

Sam was awoken by Cooney sitting next to him. Sam was about to make a move for his knife before he analyzed his surroundings but his reality caught up with him. Cooney must have seen his alert.

"You're an edgy guy aren't you Fisher." Cooney said in his high not quite young but youthful voice. The voice annoyed the hell out of Fisher.

"I'm not edgy I just don't enjoy annoying kids bothering me while I sleep." Sam said, a little groggy. Cooney didn't get Sam's drift. He just laughed at the comment and said,

"I know exactly what your saying Fisher. I hate it when people just ruin a perfectly good nap for you." Sam groaned silently and stood up. He needed a drink wherever he could get it. He also needed to get away from Cooney.

Fisher squeezed his way out and started to walk toward the mini-fridge that was right next to the cockpit. He crouched down and got a small bottle of some kind of alcohol.

When he stood up the doors of the cockpit opened right in front of Sam. Sam saw Desmond walk out of the cockpit.

"Fisher. Wanna grab me one of those?" Desmond said almost cheerfully as he walked toward the cabin. Sam grabbed an extra one and tossed it to Desmond when he looked his way.

"Crow says we're about two hours away from Mexico. So sit back what the football game whatever." Desmond announced to the people in the plane.

Not every seat was full in the plane because there weren't that many men. Fisher finally counted and there were seven men in the cabin. He was sure that wasn't it but at least it didn't make the cabin a tighter fit than it already was.

"Fisher maybe you better shave. We wanna look better than the Mexican dealers when we get there." Desmond said as a half joke half insult. Sam looked at himself in a mirror as he stood up. His hair was growing longer and his beard was growing thicker.

"Maybe that's a good idea." Sam said almost to himself. He walked to the end of the cabin to the bathroom and set his drink down on a table across from the bathroom.

Seth Brooks was totally awake and alert. He thought he had heard someone go into the bathroom so he got up from his hiding spot and went to the wall of the bathroom. Seth pulled out a small drilling tool and quietly drilled a hole into the wall to see who was in the bathroom. Once the hole was drilled he pulled out a small snake cam and put it through the hole. He then looked on his OPSAT and looked into the bathroom.

There was a shaggy man in the bathroom that Seth couldn't see his face. He was shaving at the mirror. Seth saw this as his first kill of the day. He went back to his hiding spot and pulled his bag open.

Inside were too cyanide pill. One was for swallowing and the other was for poisoning something. In this case it would be a drink. Seth pulled out the pill and slowly crept to the door of the cargo hold. He slowly put the snake cam under the door to see if anybody was coming this way.

Through the screen on his OPSAT, Seth saw nobody near the door or looking at the door in the cabin. He retracted the snake cam and slowly opened the door.

The cabin was warmer than the cargo hold and brighter. A bottle sat on a table across from the bathroom, just as Seth had guessed. He grabbed the bottle and unscrewed the unopened bottle. He watched the people in the cabin very carefully to make sure nobody looked his way. He placed the cap on the table and with one hand he had the bottle and in the other was the poison pill he would put into the bottle. He dropped the pill into the bottle and the instant the pill hit the water it started to fizz. Seth smirked in achievement and waited as the fizzing subsided.

Suddenly the sound of the door unlocking came from the bathroom. Seth quickly put the bottle on the table and jumped back into the cargo. The door closed right as Sam came out of the bathroom.

Sam was half shaven. It was hard with only a pair of scissors. He was used to a razor or a clipper. He came back for the drink. He grabbed the bottle and brought it back with him into the bathroom.

Seth calmed his nerves and walked back to the hole he had cut. He put the snake cam back into the hole and watched the man finish his shaving. He saw the bottle had come in the bathroom with him and Seth waited till the man in the bathroom was thirsty enough to take a drink. Ten minutes passed and not one sip. That's all that Seth needed for this bozo to drop. Seth realized he had forgotten to put the cap back on the bottle but it didn't seem to bother the man shaving.

The man finished and washed his face with some water then he grabbed the bottle and exited the bathroom. Seth cursed once the man was out of his view. His patience was running thin. He went back to the door and placed the snake cam under the door again to watch the man walk down the isle again and put the scissors back where he found them.

Sam walked back toward his seat. He opened the overhead compartment and pulled down his bag full of his equipment. He pulled out his old OPSAT. The wristwatch-looking device had been deactivated when Sam disappeared from Third Echelon control but Sam managed to reactivate it for his own use. Originally Third Echelon used the OPSAT to track Fisher but Fisher was able to switch the frequency and use the OPSAT without tracking and give Third Echelon the wrong location. Fisher changed the frequency to point at Langley Virginia as a practical joke aimed at Williams.

In one hand was the OPSAT and in the other was the small bottle of alcohol Sam had. He strapped the OPSAT onto his wrist and put the bottle on the armrest. He then reached down to his bag and pulled out his five-seveN pistol, checked the ammo and cocked it. Desmond saw this and said,

"Fisher, What are you doing?" Before he finished the sentence Sam put his finger to his lips. He stood up and hid the pistol from view of the door to the baggage.

He slowly grabbed the handle of the door. He looked back to see Desmond had stood up and had his hand on a pistol at his belt. Sam put his hand up as if to stop him then he opened the door.

Sam felt the cold air of the baggage hit him as he opened the door. He slowly entered the room with his pistol drawn now. Suddenly a hand was brought down on the pistol. But Sam was expecting it. With his other hand he grabbed the attackers outstretched hand. But not expected to Sam was the foot that out stretched to Sam's stomach. A man emerged from the baggage and pointed a silenced pistol at Sam. Sam didn't waste time. He quickly performed a Krav Maga pistol disarm move. The man that emerged from the baggage could not stop the disarm but he gave Sam another kick to the stomach and Sam dropped the pistol. Though in pain Sam jumped up and grabbed the sides of the light fixture and kicked the man back into the baggage.

Sam was almost a master in Krav Maga hand-to-hand combat but he guessed it was the same for his dark opponent. He followed him back into the baggage where his opponent had gotten up. He pulled something from his waist that Sam wasn't sure what exactly it was but he figured out when it came towards his stomach. He caught the knife with quick speed, disarmed the man of it and then brought it around and into the man's back. There was a cry from the man as the knife plunged into his back. Sam gave him one more swift kick to the stomach and the man fell back. Desmond came running in with a pistol in his hand and he looked down and saw the man.

"Who is he?" Sam looked down at his hands and saw that they were covered in the man's blood. He wiped the blood on his shirt and said,

"I don't know." But Sam did know. He saw the goggles that the man had on and recognized his fighting style. This man was a Splinter Cell.

"Give me your knife." Desmond said. Sam looked and him and said,

"Why?" Desmond didn't give an answer. He reached down at Sam's belt where his knife was sheathed and pulled it out. He then walked over to the man and said,

"Who are you?" the man winced in pain. Desmond knew he wasn't going to answer so he grabbed the man's hand. He then put the knife to the man's thumb and said,

"If you will not tell me who you are mate…" He then pushed and the knife penetrated the skin. "Then I will figure out." The man cried out in pain. Sam watched with a face of stone.

Within seconds Desmond severed the thumb from the man's hand and walked out of the baggage.

"Watch him." He said to Sam. He handed Sam the bloody knife then walked away. Sam knelt down and wiped the blood onto the carpet then put the knife back in its place.

"Fisher." A pained voice called. Sam looked to the man and saw him looking straight at him. Sam stood up and walked over to the man. The man had a balaclava mask on that had a stain of blood from the man's mouth. Sam reached down and pulled the mask off and he saw the man's face. Sam finally got a good look at the man and he realized he recognized him. His name was Seth Brooks. Sam had worked with him before his involvement with the JBA and now he was doing the very same job Sam would have been put up to.

"Just another wetwork job huh?" Sam said meeting eyes with Brooks. Brooks gave a disgusted laugh and choked up some blood.

"You're nothing but a traitor Sam Fisher." Sam first looked at Brooks then back at Desmond.

"Whatever you believe, you won't be able to tell them." Sam said gravely.

"I didn't expect you to let me." Brooks said softly as Sam walked over to the five-seveN on the ground. He picked it up and pointed it at Brooks head.

"You know if you kill me…" Brooks said just before Sam pulled the trigger. Brooks was silent in a minute and Sam lowered the pistol.

"Yeah I know."

Logan awoke as Michael tapped him on the shoulder. Logan was exhausted from the situation with Bates that he slept the minute they got into the jeep to drive towards Laredo, Texas. Nathan had dropped Michael, Isaac and him off at a Rainbow HQ in Texas then they got the jeep.

None of them had weapons as it would only raise suspicions at the border and Logan didn't want any attention of the Mexican government until they had Philippe Ortega in their custody and back on American soil.

"Logan," Michael said almost whispering. "We're pulling into Laredo. You ready?" Logan nodded.

Isaac was driving. His title was the rookie because that's exactly what he was. A few years ago, Logan's "rookie" was Jung Parks, an operative who had had a few years under his belt but none as much as Logan or Michael. They had an operation in New York. A small time terrorist cell entered a business building and took en entire floor hostage. Rainbow went in and quickly killed the terrorists but one of the terrorists ran to the roof. Jung went after him. Logan wasn't quite sure what went on up on that roof but Jung attacked and there was a hand-to-hand conflict which ended in both of them plummeting off the thirty story building. Both of them died on impact.

"So where is this Ingrid we've been hearing so much about?" Isaac said from the drivers seat. Logan examined the streets of the city they were entering.

"She said she would meet us at the Webb County Administration building. Head towards there." Isaac nodded.

In a span of fifteen minutes they finally reached the street next to the Administration building and they saw her. Ingrid stood on the corner of the building. She wore a black suit that had to be warm in the heat of Texas. Isaac pulled the jeep up to her and she entered. She knew exactly who they were.

"Captain Keller." She said entering the jeep. She extended her hand and said, "I am Ingrid Medina."

Ingrid was not Mexican but Spanish. She had long black hair that she put back into a ponytail. She had a very nice tan. When she entered the car, Logan noticed the briefcase she had.

Once she took a seat she put the case on her lap and opened it. Inside were a lot of papers.

"I have all your papers and passports right here. You all have alternate aliases so take some time to study them just in case the Mexican border guards start asking questions."

"Where's the safe house in Nuevo Laredo?" Logan asked. Ingrid grabbed a PDA and said,

"Its under landmarks." Logan grabbed the PDA and clicked it on. Once the screen was on it was a map of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. He looked on the bottom of the screen and saw the button, landmarks. He clicked it quickly and a list of landmarks came up. One said Rainbow safe house. He clicked that and in seconds a red dot appeared on the map of Nuevo Laredo. It was a few blocks away from the border.

"Is this far enough to not bring suspicion to the border patrols?" Ingrid looked and him and nodded.

"I've tried several times. The border patrols don't give a rats ass." Logan nodded and shut the PDA off.

"Isaac get us to the border.

Lawrence Williams stood in the observation room of the medical bay. The doctors were starting treatment on Enrica. She had swallowed a cyanide pill but the doctors believed that she would survive if they could extract the poison before it reached her blood stream.

"Mr. Williams?" a voice came from behind him. Williams turned and saw Elton Brown behind him. Williams gave a professional smile and said,

"The doctors say that she's going to be fine. As soon as they extract the poison we can go in again and start questioning her. Elton was nervous about something but Williams didn't see it since he looked back at Enrica.

"Sir." Elton started. "We've got a little bit of a problem. " Williams looked at Elton again and his smile was wiped away.

"What kind of problem?" Williams asked walking towards Elton.

"The subdermals on agent Brooks went out a half an hour ago. He's dead." Williams was shocked then angry in a span of two seconds.

"Damn it!" he shouted. The doctors in the operating room below looked up. The observation room was suppose to be sound proof but if you yelled as loud as Williams did they could hear it.

"How did this happen?" Williams yelled. Elton stood firm and said,

"His last log said that he was in the baggage section of Desmond's private jet sir. He reported that the plane was on route to Mexico."

"Mexico? Why Mexico?" Williams asked himself.

"I already ran a check sir and I think I know the reason. Captain Keller of Rainbow 6 was already on his way to Mexico to apprehend a Mexican bomb maker by the name of Philippe Ortega. If you put two and two together there might be a connection. I've already notified the President on our situation." Williams stopped at this news.

"What did you tell the President?"

"About Brooks and…"

"You told him about Brooks?" Williams yelled.

"Well yes, I needed to…" Brown said but Williams interrupted and said,

"Well I need to explain a lot to the President now. Thank you so much Elton."

"Sam!" Desmond called. "We are landing in Mexico now. Are you ready to go?"

Sam was still in the baggage. He grabbed a tarp to cover Brook's body up. He didn't feel any pity for Brooks for the soul reason that Brooks had tried to kill him. But there was something in killing a fellow Splinter Cell. It didn't bother Sam that much but he knew there would be even more consequence now, but that didn't worry Sam either.

Sam stood up and looked at the covered body. He didn't expect it to get a burial at all but Sam knew that not many Splinter Cells had families. Sam did but they all died.

Sam was ready to go but before he left he looked to see if anyone was watching then he snuck a quick salute to the Splinter Cell. It was out of respect for a fallen soldier.


End file.
